


Trim

by soulsolid



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of The Brave Tangled Dragons - Fandom, Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friendship, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Prompt Fill, also mentions of minor burn injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28975119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulsolid/pseuds/soulsolid
Summary: Hiccup’s hair is windswept but not unruly, the color a charming copper. Rapunzel closes her eyes, tries to remember how it looks like during daylight; the way it puts on a reddish glow that even her own locks couldn’t achieve. Ochre, like the color of a tree bark under the autumn sun.When she opens her eyes again, however, the Hiccup in front of her is leaning closer to the fire, coating half of him in shadows instead of light. His hair takes on a new likening, then: dark like an unlit matchstick.“So, about this short?” she gently taps at the spot, a few inches from the top of his nape, carefully keeping away from the mildly burnt skin underneath it.“Y, yeah, thanks.”-(Or: Rapunzel faces an unexpected request.)
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel (mentioned), Hiccup Haddock III & Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood) & Merida (Disney) & Rapunzel (Disney), Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Rapunzel (Disney), Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Toothless
Comments: 9
Kudos: 22





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**Author's Note:**

> This is a flower prompts fill for anon on tumblr, who asked for Hiccup and Rapunzel + the flower “Elder” _(compassion)._ And yeah, this story is set in a pocket dimension where the Big Four go on a [insert the fantasy equivalent of a gap year road trip here] together. Enjoy!

Rapunzel is focusing on getting out the last bits of herbs stuck underneath her fingernails when he said it.

“W—what?”

“Maybe we should cut it,” Hiccup repeats, one hand gesturing at the back of his head and flinching when he reaches too far back, putting unwanted pressure on his wound. He continues on as if nothing happened, “It’s starting to get too long, it snags on my helmet, and I don’t think I can get the braiding right when my hair is only this much—I only ever did it for my dad, and his hair was almost as long as Merida’s—so… yeah, for now it needs a cut.”

Dumbfounded, Rapunzel carefully puts down the bark they’ve been using as a container for the salve. Stares at the red, herbs-covered patch of skin near the base of Hiccup's skull.

Does that mean he wants her to…?

She blinks, suddenly in doubt of herself. On her lap, Pascal gives her an encouraging look, nudging her to respond.

“Okay, so,” Rapunzel says slowly, clearing her throat, “Do you want to do it now? I’m not a good hairdresser by any means, but if it’s just a trim, maybe I could…?”

“…Oh.” It seems like Hiccup has finally processed what his words are insinuating.

“Could you? Er, I mean,” he floundered, “It’s fine if you don’t feel like doing it _now,_ what I mean is—it’s just that the options are either you or—” he gestures largely in front of him with both hands, helpless.

Despite the sudden reservation in her stomach, Rapunzel giggles, her voice ringing out under the darkening sky.

“Well. You get what I mean,” Hiccup chuckles, looking over his shoulder to give her a sheepish smile.

The circle around their campfire is emptier than it should; the people in question currently away doing their own tasks. Jack had volunteered to check the bottom of the cliff where Hiccup and Toothless’ flight mishap had happened, to see if there are parts of Hiccup’s prototype flight suit that are still salvageable. Meanwhile, Merida is scouring for more herbs to cool Hiccup’s wound, proclaiming she has spotted a bush of it in the woods earlier this morning.

She knows Hiccup didn’t mean anything harmful about the other two. The image of Jack or Merida handling the back of his head with a scissor in their hand _does_ inspire worry in anyone who knows their susceptibility to mischief or recklessness. Hiccup’s unintentional slight, then, is safe as a secret in her hands.

“But are you sure about getting rid of it?” Rapunzel returns to her task—applying the last remaining salve over Hiccup’s mildly burned skin—as she talks. “It might give your nape more exposure the next time this happens again.”

“It’s fine,” Hiccup shrugs, casual in the way only someone so used to fire could showcase. He then turns his head to the still-sulking Toothless, a few meters away from their campfire. “What do you think, Bud? Might give me an edge?”

His only answer is a low growl.

“Stop sulking, you big baby. I said sorry, didn’t I?” Hiccup calls. “It won’t happen again, I know which maneuver is the right one now.”

Toothless only huffs and adjusted his tail, shielding his face from their sight. Hiccup gasps, looking over his shoulder again to throw Rapunzel an insulted look.

“Did you see that?! I have never seen a more useless, immature reptile—”

Rapunzel and Pascal exchange glances. Only Hiccup would treat his near-fatal fall this afternoon—a consequence for recklessly flying near his Night Fury’s line of fire, which also granted him his new wound—as if it’s something trivial.

Behind his tail fin, Toothless responds by comically mimicking his rider’s speech, much to Hiccup’s faux annoyance.

“Why, you—”

“Alright then,” Rapunzel interjects, having come to a decision and cutting the ongoing bickering. “Let’s do it. Do you have anything sharp enough to cut your hair? Because I don’t have any,” she confesses.

“Sure! It’s in my bag, hold on,” after an awkward scramble for his bag that Rapunzel easily won _(“stay still, Hiccup, you’re hurt! remember?”),_ they quickly settle into a closer position near the bonfire, aiming for an angle that will help Rapunzel see better.

Rapunzel gently tilts Hiccup’s head into the proper position, and asks him to be patient as she tries to compose something resembling a good pre-haircut manner, the way she imagines professional hairdressers will do.

Hiccup’s hair is windswept but not unruly, the color a charming copper. Rapunzel closes her eyes, tries to remember how it looks like during daylight; the way it puts on a reddish glow that even her own locks couldn’t achieve. Ochre, like the color of a tree bark under the autumn sun.

When she opens her eyes again, however, the Hiccup in front of her is leaning closer to the fire, coating half of him in shadows instead of light. His hair takes on a new likening, then: dark like an unlit matchstick.

Rapunzel had imagined it to be soft, but there’s a surprising coarseness as she carefully runs her fingers through it, parting and collecting the stray hairs into one bunch.

“So, about this short?” she gently taps at the spot, a few inches from the top of his nape, carefully keeping away from the mildly burnt skin underneath it.

“Y, yeah, thanks.”

Rapunzel gingerly positions the scissor with bated breath, and is about to make a cut when she feels eyes on her. She looks to her left.

A few meters away, Toothless' green eyes burn through the dark, gaze never leaving the faint glint of metal against his rider’s neck.

It’s a fascinating thing to watch, how Toothless gradually transforms into a shapeless being as the sun sets. It took Rapunzel a moment to register his form, still vaguely curled on the ground, but it’s not difficult to see that his mouth no longer fits his name—the sight of his teeth a silent, lethal warning.

The weight of the scissor is suddenly heavier in her hands. Rapunzel almost falters.

Almost.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Rapunzel says to the back of Hiccup’s head. It is both a reassurance for Toothless and herself, for her hands to not shake. She will be steady, just like how Eugene’s had been.

The thought of Eugene sends a fond prickle through her chest, before it further blooms into warm courage.

“No nicks and cuts, I promise,” she adds, sincerely, meaning it with her whole being. “I’ll do my best.”

In front of Toothless, the words almost feel like an oath.

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Hiccup says, clueless as to what’s happening, his tone light. “I know you’re good with your hands. It’s part of why I wanted you to do it. And don’t worry, you’re...” he trails off in embarrassment, before continuing on, staring straight ahead. “I think it’s impossible for you to hurt me, Punz. I mean it.”

Even Rapunzel knows it’s not a light statement. They are, after all, still half-strangers. Twenty days of traveling together are not enough to overcome the differences that, by all logic, should drive them apart. The first dragon-riding Viking and Corona’s (currently off-duty) Princess should’ve known better than to trust each other in mere weeks.

However, Rapunzel has never been one to care about origins. She knows Hiccup is a good person, one she’s happy to call her friend. She also knows from the occasional stories of his tribe that this is probably the first time he lets someone else outside his father and tutor be this close to him. This realization makes Rapunzel feel like she could glow, humbled and struck by a sudden fondness at Hiccup’s endlessly trusting nature.

(Meanwhile, Pascal, the sweetheart, climbs up to her shoulder and glares back at the other reptile; loyal as always despite his scales already turning a frightened black, instincts making him try to blend into the evening.)

“Thank you.”

“Y, yeah, you too—I mean, you’re welcome! But also thank you? for doing this, I mean.”

“I know, Hiccup,” Rapunzel laughs, one hand on his shoulder. “Now stay still.”

Hiccup does as he’s told. In the background, Toothless has retracted his teeth and is now curling deeper into himself, finally relaxed. Rapunzel lifts the now light-as-feathers scissor, a bundle of matchstick strands between her fingers, and makes her first cut.

**Author's Note:**

> Any comments/thoughts would be appreciated, and thank you for reading! :)


End file.
